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Episode 130: Eminem/Punisher

This week, Luke and Punisher-expert Geoffrey Golden return to talk about the now almost 10 year old comic, Eminem Punisher, as well as the Academy Award winning rap artist Eminem, and other important topics.

On a Sunday in Central Park, Frank Castle’s family was killed in a rain of mob bullets. From that day on, Castle was reborn as a relentless vigilante dedicated to one thing: Sending evil men to their graves. He is The Punisher.

Marshall Mathers dropped out of high school to pursue a career in hip-hop. Gaining popularity in freestyle battles, Mathers was able to escape the streets of Detroit and become one of the most talented and controversial emcees on the planet. He is Eminem.

After a show in Detroit, Michigan, the home of Eminem, he wants to get in his limo and get some chili dogs at Lafayette, home of the famous chili dog wars and staples of Detroit, Michigan, the home of Eminem. The Punisher shows up and when Eminem’s security, including this universes’ version of Salvador Larroca pull guns on him, he kills them all. Eminem shoots him a bit before he is pulled back by his childhood friend Barracuda who recommends they run. Eminem doesn’t want to run until Punisher shoots a rocket at his car and they escape into a house and decide to trick him in. Punisher ties to talk him down but Eminem takes him by surprise, knocking him out with a gun and then shooting him several times. Unfortunately for Shady, ne Eminem, Barracuda was the one hired to kill Eminem and Punisher was trying to stop him and then Eminem takes several rounds to the chest.

When Punisher and Eminem wake up they are chained together, Eminem rightly calls Punisher out for shooting all his men first and Punisher tries to justify it by saying they pulled on him first (but they didn’t fire) and he assumes all of them had prior offenses which is some fucking bullshit justification.

Barracuda reveals that the Parent’s Music Council hired Barracuda to hire him to murder them – when he survived due to his bulletproof vest, he decided he’d toss them somewhere cold which is weird because I’m assuming he had to drive to Lake Huron which to my knowledge doesn’t regularly get ice floes, but looking into it – you can apparently go ice fishing there.

Anyway, Barracuda tosses him off the side, plans to sell his Eminem merch – which is dumb – buy up that shit first so you have a larger supply and then sell, and tosses him off the side – but Eminem, still tied up, lands on the ice which doesn’t break. Barracuda decides to shoot him but Punisher kicks him so he misses the shot. Eminem runs off and finds a guy ice fishing and the guy just happens to be an Eminem fan who has a chainsaw.

Barracuda meanwhile is beating the heck out of the Punisher but Eminem reappears with a chainsaw and murders Barracuda tossing his dead body into the ocean. Punisher gets free and forces Eminem onto the ice because he killed someone – but he throws Eminem a satellite phone to call for rescue and Punisher sails off to deal with the Parent’s Music Council and Eminem asks him to say that Shady sent him.

Eminem wanted the comic, wanted Barracuda in, Nate Cosby got him interested and he got the job. It was about a month long deal that was originally an 8 page story and then it got expanded out.